


Back in Time

by alfiewrites



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: No Angst, am i tagging right, its fluff and humor i promise, poor dudes don't know what theyre in for, time's literally a feral gremlin child, wind has the sailor mouth, yet ;)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27720710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfiewrites/pseuds/alfiewrites
Summary: After a freak accident leaves Time temporarily cursed into a child form, the others have to take care of the kid till the curse wears off.Unfortunately, not only did Time's adult form disappear with the curse, but as did his memories of the boys. All he knows is that he's a young Kokiri boy. And be damned were these strange men going to keep him in one place!Shenanigans ensue.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Hyrule & Wild (Linked Universe), Legend & Time (Linked Universe), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Time & Twilight (Linked Universe), Warriors & Wind (Linked Universe)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 107





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I'm back. If you know me from my Off The Deep End fic, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but it's been permanently delayed until further notice.
> 
> This is technically my first actual fic for the fandom, and I'm sorry if any characters are OoC :>

Time’s vision began to weaken as he descended further into the mysterious cave, ears twitching for any sign of hostile brutes. The boys’ boots clicked against the cement staircase behind him, the only other sounds being the occasional drip of murky water leaking through the bricks.

  
It had been Four who pointed out the cave; stopping dead in his tracks to investigate it, with his fellow heroes following. It was a simple, man-made stone entrance, with only cracks in the stone and greenery blossoming across its sides showing its age. Time was hesitant to enter it, he’d done this enough times to know that almost anything could be in the cave, but it was clear his boys were antsy for adventure; the Hyrule they were in was void of any huge threats, seemingly in an era of peace. Good for them, he supposed.

  
Time was yanked from his thoughts by the feeling of a shoulder shoving him aside, and his eye shot up to see Hyrule and Wild - ever the curious duo - walking ahead of the group. He opened his mouth to snap at them to back up, that they don’t know what is down here, when Hyrule lit a lamp on the wall with his torch. It was only seconds before lamps all around the cave were lit, and the room became more visible.

  
The interior had the same cracked stone floor, wall, and ceiling as the exterior, with vines and soil seeping through cracks in the stone. The stone creaked and moaned above them and Time swallowed dryly; the last thing they needed was to get buried alive thanks to some freak accident.

  
In the center of the room, on a - seemingly - ancient marble pedestal, lay a peculiar shaped vase. It was shaped like an hourglass, with a dark, foggy substance swirling around inside it. 

  
  
Of course, Wind lunged forward to get a better look at it. 

  
  
A hand snagged him by the back of his shirt. “Hold on there, bud.” It was Warriors. Time silently thanked the Goddesses he so despised for giving him someone else that can help carry the burden of traveling with a bunch of curious kids. 

  
  
One by one, the group gathered around it, eyeing it suspiciously. Legend seemed the most uptight; the most familiar with magic out of all of them, Time wondered if he knew what was inside the va-

  
  
“Before you ask, no, I don’t know what this is,” there’s his answer. Legend squinted at it closer, before slowly shaking his head.

  
  
Time was shoulder to shoulder with his protege, who shot him an uncomfortable look out of the corner of his eye. He knew Twilight was wary around magic, and especially around unidentifiable magic, so this must be no exception. He didn’t blame him, however.

  
  
Movement caught his eye and he looked to see Wild scrambling through his slate, likely searching for potions that might be similar to the substance. This substance, however, was no potion, was in a gaseous state rather than liquid, and an indignant huff told Time that there were no similarities. 

  
  
“Maybe...we should take it with us?” Four suggested lightly, “perhaps there’s a local who knows the magic in this Hyrule.”

  
  
Twilight bristled at the idea. “We don’t know if it’ll set off a trap,” he countered, reaching up to scratch his head, frustration brewing in his eyes. “As ancient as this structure is, you never know if it’ll just decide to collapse us.”  


Both turned to Time, looking for a definite answer, who frowned. 

“We should take it. For safekeeping,” Twilight opened his mouth to argue and Time raised a hand in his direction, “this could be important for unlocking the key that sends us through our next portal. However,” he raked his gaze over the entire group, “you will all leave the monument. I will get it. If traps do occur, it’ll be a lot easier for one to escape, rather than having nine Hylians pushing through the entrance.”

  
  
He wasn’t surprised when he was met with shouts of indignation and head shaking. Sky was the first to go on a rant about how having one person down here could be dangerous. About how the others won’t know if they get injured, or need help, or can’t carry the artifact or-

  
  
“Alright, alright,” Time sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “two people should be down here for retrieval. However, I’m still going to be the one down here, as well as-” he cut off, nodding his head at Legend, who tensed but agreed.

  
  
The heroes were clearly unhappy, with Twilight, Four, Sky, and Warriors shooting worried glances to eachother, and Hyrule, Wild, and Wind pouting at not being chosen. They all knew well enough not to argue, though, and soon it was only Time and Legend in the chamber.

  
  
Before Time reached out to grab the vase, he shot a glance at Legend. The boy looked nervous, glaring at the artifact with uneasy eyes.

  
  
“You alright?”

  
  
Legend startled out of his thoughts and nodded stiffly, “Fine. Let’s just get this and get out as soon as possible.”

  
  
Time hummed an agreement and wrapped both palms around the vase. When he lifted it, it was far lighter than he anticipated. 

  
  
_Thunk._

  
  
Legend almost immediately had unsheathed his sword as a deep rumble echoed beneath their feet. Time’s grip on the artifact loosened and he stumbled forward to catch it again.

  
  
“Just what in the hell was that?” Legend gasped, panic and irritation lacing his voice. 

  
  
“I don’t know, but we should leave. Start moving,” Time answered quickly. He expected some protest from the other, about how he didn’t need to be ordered around, but the pale face of the younger hero told him all he cared about was escaping. And that’s what he did, walking briskly in front of Time as both headed for the exit, the sunlight still pouring in from the entrance.

  
  
Another rumble beneath their feet, stronger this time. Legend lost his balance and fell forward. 

  
  
The vase slipped from Time’s hands.

  
  
With a loud, startling shatter, it lay broken at his feet. The substance swirled menacingly around his ankles, before shooting up so he was completely covered in fog. Startled, Time stumbled back, aware he was inhaling the strange gas, and slammed back first into the concrete wall.

  
  
When the gas cleared around him, his eye immediately shot to Legend, who was just getting up and wiping dust off his trousers, eyeing the shattered vase with disdain. 

  
  
He opened his mouth to ask Legend if he was okay, when he was interrupted by a horrible stabbing pain in his gut. He gaped, but no sounds came out, and he slid onto the floor, curling in on himself as the pain worsened. His vision blurred, the last thing he heard was Legend’s shout before he lost consciousness.

  
  
*******

  
  
Twilight stood restlessly outside the entrance to the cave, pacing back and forth. The others muttered words to themselves.

  
  
Legend’s startled yelp echoed through the cave, and immediately the seven remaining heroes were shoving their way back into the monument. Twilight was the first inside, and immediately saw Legend backed into the wall, staring at something to Twilight’s right with enormous eyes.  


Twilight turned to his right, and-

_ Holy shit. _

  
  
It was as if Time disintegrated into thin air. His armor and boots lay on the ground without their owner.   
  


Suddenly, the armor began to shift as something wiggled out from beneath it. The group of Links stumbled back, unsheathing their weapons and pointing it at the creature. Legend stood frozen beside them.

  
  
Time’s chestplate was shoved aside and - lo and behold - a small head peeked out from beneath it. Two blue eyes stared at the group, large and afraid, as the…..the _child_ emerged from Time’s armor. He wore a short green tunic; where he’d gotten it from, Twilight had no idea.

  
  
But the boys recognized him. They recognized his eyes. The middle part in his golden blonde hair. And the fact that he had come out from underneath…

  
  
“Time?!” Warriors was the first to speak. The child turned to look at him, looking confused. If this really was Time, Twilight thought, he’d clearly lost his memories of them. Maybe he’s been transported mentally back to when he really was a child…

  
  
The silence continued, eight heroes watching the young boy, who couldn’t be more than 9, pick up the boot that had belonged to Time, giggling at its size compared to his own.

  
  
Wind was the first to break the silence. “Okay...what the fuck?”

  
  
Child Time’s head shot up to face Wind, his eyes shining, “fuck!”

  
  
Twilight choked. _What in the name of Hylia-_

  
  
“Fuck!” Time chirped again.   



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group manages to convince young Time to travel with them, which ends up going smoother than thought. Until that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! The amount of positivity on this fic is astounding,, aah thank you sm!

_Well...this is a situation I no longer want to be in._ _  
_ _  
_ Twilight looked from the armor, to the boy, back and forth. The child simply stared at them after his little outburst of curses, ears drooping the more they stared at him. And, Twilight noticed, he was beginning to get more nervous; more skittish. He noticed the small feet turning slowly towards the exit, as if the kid thought they were going to attack him.  
  
“H-hey…” Twilight’s voice was choked and hoarse, and he cleared his throat before continuing, “hey, do you remember us? We can help you if you just-”  
  
The kid bolted.  
  
“Son of a bitch!” Warriors cursed as all eight remaining heroes took off after him. Well, all except Wild, who stayed behind to put the armor safely in his sheikah slate, so it can be retrieved later.  
  
By the time Wild had emerged from the monument, he was greeted with the sight of a confused and strained Sky holding the kid up by the back of his shirt, who, in turn, was kicking and clawing at Sky’s hand. As aggressive as his actions were, paired with the gritting of his teeth, there was more paranoia in the kid’s eyes than anything. He was petrified and lost, and it hit Wild with a pang that, no, he didn’t remember them. He was a kid, far from home, in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar men.  
  
No wonder he was horrified.  
  
“Hey! We just need to talk to you!” Legend snapped, his tone a little harsher than he intended, only stressing the kid out more.   


“I don’t know you! I need to go home!” 

The kid grew tired in Sky’s grasp, his kicks faltering and the fire draining from his eyes. Sky slowly moved his second arm forward, making sure the kid saw it so he wouldn’t be surprised, to take a more comfortable hold on him.  
  
“Where is home?” Sky asked lightly. Kudos to Sky for having a soothing voice.  
  
“I’m not telling you!” came the stubborn reply.  
  
Sky ignored the bristling of a few heroes, and his voice didn’t stutter as he continued, “alright. Well that’s okay. Can you at least tell us your name?”  
  
The kid looked up at him with big blue eyes, something that made Sky wary. If this really was young Time, he must’ve been sent far into the past in order to regain the pupils in both his eyes. In fact, he no longer bore his signature scar or facial markings at all. This could be the very, very beginning of his adventure.  
  
_Or even beforehand._ Sky frowned.  
  
“What’s it to you?” The kid mumbled again. It was clear he was cautious about revealing any information to them, which was understandable but unhelpful. As highly as Time spoke of his childhood, he never added any specifics, very similar to the kid before Sky.  
  
“It can help us get you back home.”  
  
The kid paused, rolling over Sky’s words in his head. “Link,” he claimed, “my name is Link.”  
  
The heroes all glanced at eachother and Sky noticed a few nods among them. There was no calling him Time right now, they didn’t need any more confusion weighing down on the kid.   
  
“Well, Ti- Link,” Sky stumbled over his words, “you can travel with us until we get to a place you recognize.” Link opened his mouth to argue but Sky continued before he could. “We’re all pretty lost ourselves, and there are big monsters around here,” Sky winced at his own lie. “It’d be much safer to travel in a group, wouldn’t you agree?”  
  
Link looked from Sky to the other heroes. Being born and raised in the Kokiri Forest, he’d never been truly faced with an awful threat. Sure, the other Kokiri bullied him for not having a fairy, and oftentimes he ended up sobbing with Saria at his side, but he’d never felt unsafe. Saria had told him that mean people with bad intent existed, which Link had found hard to believe at the time, considering she’d never left the Forest either. But he found himself thinking about Saria’s words over and over.  
  
He distrusted these people but...he didn’t see anything bad about them. Their weapons were unnerving, the guy with the pinkish blonde hair intimidated him a little, and the horrid facial scars on the long-haired one’s face freaked him out, but he didn’t detect any malicious intent in any of them. And two small ones - one with a colorful tunic and the other with a bright blue one - were traveling with them as well. Would they really risk harming a Kokiri child in front of other Hylian children?

And, back to the topic at hand, Link is  _ outside of the Forest! He should be dead! _

Sky noticed the kid’s face grow fearful and confused again, albeit the fear seemed to come from his own thoughts, not the Links themselves. Sky bopped him on the nose with a finger and he snapped out of it.  
  
“Okay, okay okay,” Link gestured with his hands, “I will,” he gave Sky a hard glare, which almost brought a wide smile to Sky’s face with the way the kid’s face scrunched. “But _only_ till we get to my home.”  
  
Warriors held up his hands, lips pursed to hold back the grin, “of course! That’s all we ask.”

Sky gently lowered Link to the ground, expecting him to flee. Instead, he looked up at all of the heroes, huffed, and began stomping in one direction.   
  
“Uh- our stuff is the other way,” Four snickered, jutting a thumb back over his shoulder.  
  
Link’s shoulders tensed, and he spun around, his face and ears reddening. He stomped harder in the way Four pointed without a word, and tried to ignore the giggling of the group behind him.  
  
The heroes formed a circle around Link, something that made the little hero uncomfortable, but the group knew that they could not let themselves be caught off guard. Not with a little one with them.  
  
Twilight watched the tiny green-clad hero continue walking. Every now and then, he would glance up at a nearby person out of curiosity, but when they would look at him and smile he’d immediately look back down at his boots.  
  
“Are you sure we don’t wanna keep him like this?” Twilight overheard Hyrule whispering to Legend. “He’s much cuter this way.”  
  
Legend smirked and agreed.  
  
As much as Twilight loved his ancestor and mentor, he couldn’t help but laugh to himself along with them. The kid was definitely cute, and way less intimidating in this form.   
  
The group continued to chatter quietly until they reached the path they’d been on before, Epona making a startled huff as she noticed the little boy with them. Link’s eyes lit up in excitement, and he bound forward to her. Epona leaned down to sniff his head, nuzzling his hair when he giggled and reached up to her nose with tiny hands.  
  
“Do you know her?” Twilight asked, startling Link. He spun around as Twilight crouched to be at eye level with him.  
  
Link shook his head.  
  
_So this was before he met her._ _  
_ _  
_ Twilight eyed him, before looking at Epona’s back, an idea forming in his mind.  
  
“Let me help you,” he reached out to pick up Link, who tried to squirm out of his grasp, which was unsuccessful. He plopped the boy on Epona’s back, and Link went from fussy to amazed in a heartbeat.   
  
When he made sure the kid was situated, and had a few eyes on him to make sure he didn’t try and run off again (probably wouldn’t as the height between him and the ground now was too high) he turned back to see Warriors, Legend and Hyrule huddled in a group, mumbling amongst themselves.  
  
“-no clue how to reverse this kind of magic. I-” Legend cut off as Twilight approached them.  
  
“I’m guessing you’ve no ideas, then?” Twilight sighed.  
  
Legend shook his head. “It wasn’t something I was familiar with in the cavern, and it’s not something I’m any more familiar with now. I’m hoping it’s a curse that’ll simply wear off eventually, but, until then, we’ll have to take care of the kid,” the usual snarky glint in Legend’s eyes was replaced by a rare concern, “however, it’s clear he doesn’t remember any of us. Not even Epona. When he reverts back to himself, who knows if he’ll get his memory back or not?”  
  
Twilight saw Wild flinch out of the corner of his eye.  
  
“Well, there must be something we can do to speed up the process,” Warriors countered. His tone wasn’t argumentative like it tended to be with Legend, but more of desperation and confusion. “You don’t know of anything that could help wear off curses faster?”  
  
Legend paused, then shook his head. “Not that I know of. I’m pretty sure there used to be a method, but I don’t think it’ll work for this one. Best to let it take its course and hope for the best, eh?” he nudged Hyrule with his elbow, giving Warriors a shit-eating grin, “unless you wish to be my test subject on the matter?”  
  
Warriors scoffed. “No thanks.”  
  
Twilight hummed. “We’ll need to find camp then. Don’t want to be consistently traveling with him.”  
  
Warriors nodded, and they both turned to look at Link, who was intrigued by whatever Wind was showing him and babbling on about.   
  
Twilight felt a nervous itch in his throat. With Time gone, he and Warriors would technically become the unofficial leaders of the group until further notice. Warriors would fit easily into that position, but Twilight himself never felt that same urge to lead. It gave him a little confidence to know Warriors agreed with his plan, however.  
  
“Fine, then let’s be on with it then,” Warriors clapped a hand on Twilight’s back, before turning to inform the others on what their plan was.   
  
They began to walk in search for a camp for the night, Twilight at Epona’s side as the kid nibbled on a buttered apple Wild had given him earlier. Four was on Epona’s other side, holding up his weapon to show it to Link, who was watching intently as Four went on about different types of weapons and how he could help craft them.   
  
It was a wonder that Link had grown accustomed to the group so quickly, Twilight wondered. He expected a fuss, or maybe the kid being shut off and quiet, attempting to avoid contact with the others. What he didn’t expect was that Link - young Time - was just a curious, bubbly little child that enjoyed being in other company. Twilight swallowed, feeling a sudden sadness creep over his body. He must’ve been lonely or something, in order to be this accepting of people he just met.  
  
“Everyone has their own way of crafting their weaponry,” Four was going on, giving Link a small smile, “I’ve noticed that we Hylians have our own-”  
  
“I’m not Hylian!” Link cut him off indignantly, “I’m Kokiri!”  
  
Four’s rant immediately ended in a spluttering of confusion, as the other heroes looked over at Link with an equally baffled expression.   
  
“Kokiri? Like...Korok?” Wind asked, excitement in his eyes at the thought of another hero being familiar with the kind-hearted forest folk.  
  
It was Link’s time to be confused, tilting his head to the side like a lost puppy. “No, I don’t know what a Korok is,” he bumbled.  
  
Wind’s excitement deflated slightly, but it wasn’t long for him to start chattering about who the Koroks were, and Link’s eyes lit up when he mentioned the Deku Tree. _  
_ _  
_

The group seemed to settle as the two youngest chattered on, and it wasn’t long till they found somewhere to rest. At the edge of the dirt path was an overhang of stone. Greenery drooped over the overhang, and underneath was a small, sandy area, with seemingly no monsters or monster scent in sight. Twilight relished them finding such a nice place to rest.  
  
Bedrolls were put on the ground, a fire was started and Wild used his cooking pot to begin preparing something nice for the bunch. As they settled around camp, Twilight noticed the demeanor of their new arrival change.   
  
It wasn’t long before he was running around, questioning everyone in camp. Twilight, as much as he knew kids, as much as he loved helping raise them, could never get used to when they got hyper.  
  
Tugging on Sky’s sailcloth, excitedly blabbering on and on about how he was gonna use it to fly. Legend having to pull him down when the little monster began climbing the greenery that hung over the overhang. Ingredients for dinner began to go missing when Link would snatch them and pull them apart, making a huge mess. Eventually Warriors had to restrain him, attempting to keep him occupied with a story of his past, which interested him for a whole 5 seconds before he was off to harass somebody else.  
  
Then, an idea hit Twilight. Perhaps there was something that would keep him still…  
  
Twilight excused himself for a moment, disappearing into the forest. Once he was far enough away from the camp, he changed forms into Wolfie. He knew the others wouldn’t worry, albeit being a bit uncomfortable (they were still growing used to the idea that he could shapeshift). Once he was sure he was ready, he padded back into camp.  
  
Link made eye contact with him almost immediately, and Wolfie barely had time to blink before there were tiny hands tugging at his fur and playing with his ears.  
  
“I’ve heard about animals like you!” Link chattered excitedly, curiously rubbing the wolf’s paw with a hand.   
  
Wolfie huffed and licked the side of his cheek, which made Link yelp and giggle back at him, rubbing his head.  
  
“His name is Wolfie,” Hyrule broke in. Wolfie noticed they had almost the entire camp's eyes on them, baring warm smiles.  
  
“Wolfie!” Link clambered onto his back. He laid forward, resting his head on the fur on the back of Wolfie’s neck. Wolfie let out a small bark and padded further into camp to lay down as the kid climbed off him and tried to pet him.   
  
Link continued to stroke Wolfie’s head until food was ready, and was pretty much half asleep by the time it had finished. Warriors sent him to share a bedroll with Wind, which didn’t bother the sailor at all considering all they’d bonded over earlier that day.  
  
And as the camp slowly drifted to sleep, as Wind and Link’s chattering slowly faded into silence, as Twilight switched back into his Hylian form, the latter began to feel a sense of peace he hadn’t felt in a while.  
  
No monsters looming over them albeit the little monster currently bundled with Wind currently.   
  
No underlying threats this Hyrule seemed to offer.  
  
Nothing.   
  
Twilight, standing on watch, couldn’t help but glance back at their youngest hero, who had burrowed himself so far into the bedroll all he could see was blonde hair sticking out.  
  
Other than the curse, there was nothing for Twilight to be worried about.  
  
Until the next morning, in which he would wake up to Link attempting to climb a tree. _Again._  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's barely showed his feral side and if they think this is it, they've got a big storm coming.
> 
> Not too happy with the ending, and sorry about the random POV switching almost constantly, but we all need a little fluff content in our lives, eh?


End file.
